[Ashen Snow] Quest Turn-In [W 6.3]

Alright Winter, you end up at Vulture's bar some time later. How did you extract yourself from Easton?

That same guy is behind the bar and Vulture isn't here. But that floozy Swoozie is here. She gives you that look when you walk in, then turns around in her stool to face you, putting her elbows back on the bar behind her, which happens to accentuate her breasts, which push up in her little corset top. She stares daggers at you when you come up and says, "I hear somebody woke up dead."

Comments

"Reluctantly" is how she extracted form Easton's presence  she seriously considered writing off Vulture in favor of just doing Easton for the next few days; but Easton fell asleep eventually, and jingle was on the line, so she opted to use the down time wisely, and go get paid.

When she walks into the bar she immediately notices the lack of Vulture's presence, and the abundance of Swoozie's  an unwelcome abundance, might I add. She walks up to the bar casually, ignoring the boob-platter Swoozie's presenting, and nods to the barkeep. She can feel Swoozie's gaze, and she likes it. Jealousy is something she can work with  it means she's doing her job right. When she makes the comment about waking up dead, she closes her eyes and shudders  she's heard that line like a million times, and it was old on attempt two. "Always a shame to hear about these untimely deaths," she says, to no one in particular, "apparently the Chinese used to have a word for situations like this made from the characters for 'crisis' and 'opportunity'  seems pretty appropriate." She exhales sharply through her nose, and smiles as the barkeep produces the first bottle of Petron; but he's not moving awfully quickly to get the rest of it. "That's a nice bottle  where's the rest?"

Tryst sighs, then hunkers down under the bar to fetch the other and hands it over. Swoozie looks at you out of the corner of her eyes, "I asked around, Winter. You got quite a rep. For cock sucking. Joo fuckim to death?"

"Yup," Winter replies, nodding to Tryst in thanks before pivoting on the stool to face Swoozie, "sucked his brain out through his dick." She pockets the two bottles of booze, and eyes the gas mask behind Swoozie. As if she didn't work hard enough for her pay already, now she's got to convince this idiot to pay her... "Vulture step out? I could have sworn he'd wanna talk about future business."

There might be some cattiness going on, but Tryst full out belly laughs at the imagery of a woman sucking Crackle's brains out his dick. He slaps the bar and ignores Swoozie's stare and ends up wiping a tear away, or at least pretending to do so.

Swoozie dismisses him, "Get scarce, Tryst. The girls need to talk bidness.... veet veet." Tryst keeps laughing, now out of sheer spite for Swoozie and heads into another room. When he's out of earshot, Swoozie turns around in the stool and pours you and her a couple drinks of whiskey. She takes a swig and says, "Vulture is my front man, honey. This is my gang. You need to stop talking shit to me and you better stay away from Vulture's cock and shit, lest he get ideas that'll get him killed. I can keep the jingle flowing for your work, but you need to keep that pretty mouth of yours in check. Get me?"

Winter's extremely skeptical of what she's hearing. Swoozie wouldn't be the first bimbo with delusions of grandeur Winter had met claiming to run the show, and she certainly wouldn't be the last. Winter takes a drink of her whiskey and eyes Swoozie up and down, sizing her up...

Winter recognizes this meeting for what it is  Swoozy using Winter to solidify her grip on Vulture  and there's absolutely nothing Winter does better than sell her services to the highest bidder. When she spots the opportunity, a devious smile slowly starts to spread across her face. "That so?" she asks calmly, raising an eyebrow and taking another sip of whiskey. She takes a moment to savor the drink, nodding as she hypothesizes in her head. She puts down the drink, and leans in, "well, see... The thing is, the last of my payment you're holding over there isn't worth much in the grand scheme of things; and if I want to turn you, or Vulture, or whoever's in charge of this party into a big player here in Evan's Element, it's going to be an investment on my part  not yours. I have no problems walking away from this deal, but things get a whole lot messier for you if I do. Over the years, I've earned the right to be very selective over my clients, and I demand the respect that comes with the level of service I'll be providing you  my respect comes when I feel you've recognized that."

She sits herself up on the stool, sweeping up her drink as she does, "now why don't you tell me what you really want from me, Swoozy?" She points down towards the gas mask on the bar, "we can settle up here and now, and I'll throw in the courtesy of never speaking to any of you ever again, or we can start talking real business."

Swoozie smiles wide, she thinks she's got you now. "Winter, you like pretty things, right? Well, I've got a passel of some of the nicest luxe wear around. See, I was Domino's favorite dancer and she always kept me in style. What say I let you pick through and find a couple pretty little outfits, something that would help you get even more customers. And no, they aren't clothes like this, hon, this is my workgear."

She reaches into a saddlebag slung over the chair beside her with a proud little smile and says, "Maybe I could throw in a little something extra for you, a downpayment for future endeavors..." and she pulls out this:

Swoozie wants Winter to back her play, give her an edge on Vulture's gang so she can take over.

Oooooooooooh... Now she's talking my language! Winter eyes the piece without touching  a professional courtesy  but she can't contain her interest. She takes a quick sip of her drink and her attention is now fully devoted to Swoozie's offer. "I think I this is the start of a beautiful friendship. Why don't you tell me your plan, and I can figure out how I fit into all of it."

OOC: Spending hold 3/3: What does Swoozie intend to do (i.e. how is she going to take over the gang)?

Swoozie smiles. It isn't that self assured bitch smile she'd been giving, she actually relaxes a bit, the tension dropping when she finds a hook. Well, I helped Vulture pick out some of the targets in his little black book, so I'm still on board with that. But his approach is all wrong, so sloppy and ham-fisted. He wants you to take down Big Daddy like tomorrow! If he gets it his way, there won't be opportunity, there will be fucking chaos."

She pours you another shot, then herself, downs her glass. A couple gangers come wandering in, grab some booze form behind the bar and look like they're going to loiter. Swoozie barks, "Nedder, Algonquin, go find a room. I'm talkin bidness." Nedder gives you a sidelong glance under his big hairy eyebrows and then nods and they wander out.

Swoozie scoots a little closer, "We can't have you cooling your heels, so I have a side job I want you to go for now and then we can move back onto the list later. Sound good?"

Swoozie intends on using you to fulfill the list smarter than Vulture did to prove that she should make decisions. She also wants to have you in her back pocket in case she needs to poison him, then beat him to death in front of the gang and just take over that way.

Swoozie downs hers and pours more for both of you. She pauses before she downs hers and says, "I've ogt apair of earrings that match that necklace. I'll give you one per name... I want you to kill Chigger and Raven. they worked together to murder and THEN rape Domino. For that, I want them to suffer and die." She drains her shot and runs the back of her hand across her mouth.

Winter nods and pounds back her shot again. She had no particularly strong feelings for Domino, but she does like that jewelry... She doesn't know much about Chigger and Raven  it would be tough to figure a way into their inner circle if what Swoozie said was true. "It may take me a bit longer than Crackle. That OK?"

Winter picks up the refilled glass, raises it to her lips and shoots Swoozie a knowing wink, "trick of the trade," she jokes, "but yeah  I could use a good chat." She licks her lips and extends her glass outwards, toasting their new business arrangement. "Cheers!"

Swoozie takes you and the bottle, plus another bottle of green apple Schnapps out of the little bar and through a section of the bunker to the vault where she and Vulture sleep. Its nice enough, they have an air mattress and some pillows, a couple mismatched comfy chairs, a worn dresser for her clothes, a stack of rifles and guns in one corner, a bunch of newspapers and magazines in another and right by the door is a canvas on a tripod and a few paints on a small table with a cup and some brushes. The canvas has the beginnings of a picture of a clear lake in a pastoral valley. Swoozie says as she enters, "Home for now, the bed is comfy enough or take a chair. Lissen, I'm not really a bitch, right? I jus wanted the gang to think we're not friendly till I got a chance to make my offer. Now that's all done, so I'm bitch-free."

She sits on the edge of the bed, putting the Schnapps on the floor, "So, you're used to big folks in the Nine Cities. Why're you slummin in ShantyTown?"

By now Winter's got a nice little buzz going  she's not sloppy yet, but it could devolve into that if she let it. She spots the painting in the corner, and she points at it (glass in hand). "You paint?" she asks, presuming Vulture lacks the general patience for something as practiced at that. When Swoozie offers Winter either the chair or the bed, she opts to sit next to her on the bed  a nice, intimate little pow-wow. When Swoozie deflects her previously bitchy behavior, Winter shakes her head  "No, no... Listen. No. Bitch is just another word for a woman that knows what's hers  I don't hold that kind of shit against people, cause it doesn't mean nothing. People do what they need to do, you know? And being wary of new people is really important." She nods, and stabs her finger into the air indignantly. Winter thinks being labeled a "bitch" is an injustice to all women  unless, of course, she's the one calling people a bitch. "'Sides," she adds, "I really did suck Crackle's brains out through his dick." She smiles jokingly, and nods knowingly over her glass of whiskey before taking another shot.

The topic of Winter's recent slumming comes up, and she shrugs her shoulders. "Big folks come from little folks," she comments, almost haphazardly, "Lots of reasons, really... I heard about Domino's hoard splitting up and saw an opportunity to make some cash. Interestingly enough though, I was really just looking for a drink when I wandered into the bunker. The job was just a welcome bonus. What about you? Why'd you start running with Vulture's gang?"

OOC: What does Swoozie look like? I don't have a clear image in my head.

When you as if she paints, Swoozie nods. Then, Swoozie snickers about the brain-dick joke, it really gets her. Then it bubbles up into genuine laughter and she silences it with a long drink of the whiskey, "I hooked up with Domino back when she was still building the horde. I was a dancer at Peedee's, its a gambling house in Nokes and she offered me a better deal. Times were good, Winter, really good. There were a bunch of us girls and the horde kept growing. I recruited Vulture through my brother Hecho, made Domino and me both happy. Vulture and I hooked up a few times, nothing too serious, I liked having options. Like I said, I was Dom's favorite."

She sighs at the memory, "Then some Hocus named Never came along and attacked Domino and shit fell apart. All the gang leaders stopped playing nice right then and there and it was like they turned into rabid dogs. Raven and me, we pulled Domino out of there, we were frantic, really freaked out, she was bleeding and it was crazy. Then big ole Chigger, Raven's squeeze, came up and said he'd take care of her. I wasn't so sure about that, but Raven told me to trust him. She took off for the truck to grab our shit, we were all making scarce. I followed Chigger, thought I'd be safer maybe. But deep down, I was worried..."

Swoozie stands up, heads over to the painting, fidgeting a bit, "So yeah, I caught him doing that. That thing I said earlier. To her. And I just left. I just ran, I was too slow to save her. Found Vulture, he offered to give me a place in his gang. And in the last couple weeks, I've made myself indispensable to him. I found this bunker. I helped him write the list based off my info on who is who here...."

She turns back to you with a brush in her hand, "And well, here we are."

Winter was feeling pretty good about things until Swoozie unleashes that horror story  part of her is sorry she asked, cause she doesn't really understand the concept of grieving somebody's death, but the rest of her keeps it professional. She grabs the whiskey bottle, now pretty much two shots away from being empty, and pours the poor girl her share before pounding back the rest of the bottle. The dry liquor burns going down her throat, but it was better than some of the sludge her marks served her from time to time. She puts the whiskey bottle down and picks up the bottle of Schnapps, handing it to Swoozie in hopes that the catharsis helps her somehow. "It's been a long time since I've had hardships like that... Longer than I can remember." She grabs Swoozie's arm in a sisterly manner, and rubs her bicep gently with her thumb  she'd feel bad for her, but she knows Swoozie just bought the best revenge jingle can buy, so she opts to reassure her instead. "I'll find 'em  and I'll make them hurt."

She cracks the top of the schnapps off, and taps the bottom of the bottle with her index finger  signalling for Swoozie to drink. She's definitely a little further along the road than Winter, but this'll do her some good  then Winter remembers the dope in her pocket, and her face lights up. "Oh!" she calls out, raising a finger to pause the moment as she digs through her jacket, "Jobs used to take a lot out of me when I first started, and I always felt so empty after a kill  but Thatch started hooking me up with this shit a few jobs back; lemme tell you, it works miracles!" She produces the ball of dope and breaks off a bit, offering it to Swoozie, "it's not addictive or anything*, but it gives you a wicked high. A lot of the big shots in the cities like hitting it before a fuck  this is the kind of shit you can expect once you start living the high life."

If Swoozie resists, Winter will insist  in a friendly way, of course.

* OOC: Winter honestly believes this  she kind of treats it like a homeopathic remedy to her weird spells post-job, and "enhance the mood" when Thatch and her go out partying. She may take it more often than she thinks, but she only feels compelled to it after a kill.

Maybe it's the casual talking of killing when you mention the drug, but Swoozie holds up a wavering hand, "No, doll, think I'm good and buzzed. Sounds flash, maybe next time or somethin... so, Winter, tell me bout yerself."

You can tell as she sips the Schnapps that she is rather unsteady.

You'll need to Manipulate her to get her to take the dope, you sort of charged the situation by mentioning your job. I mean, you two are alone right now, this would be an easy hit.

Winter senses the apprehension in Swoozie's voice, and remembers that normal people don't normally talk about killing people quite as nonchalantly as she does  she's caught speechless for a moment, uncertain about how to proceed, before shrugging the whole thing off and re-pocketing the handful of dope. "Suit yerself," she mumbles, collapsing back onto the bed, "Not much to tell about me  keeping my operation up takes up a lot of my time, so most of my spare time is schmoozing and wooing new clients." she pauses a moment, realizing that's pretty much what she's doing now. "Not that that doesn't have its perks  I've lead a very privileged life because of my work  I just don't have a lot of time for hobbies and stuff... Haven't for a long time. I'm from around here, knew a lot of the people Domino took into her hoard growing up. I was actually considering joining the hoard when I first started out  and I think Domino wanted me to  but I don't really take orders very well, and I guess I was looking for something a bit more exciting ... you know how it is."

She's lying on her back, staring up at the ceiling of the bunker. "Business has been really weird these last couple of months... This joker named Harridan showed up on the scene out of, like, nowhere and suddenly everyone's pissing their pants over him. I spent years building up my rep, and suddenly I'm useless unless I know something about this Harridan guy. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get someone to fuck you when they're paranoid about losing their life?" Winter chuckles to herself, since doing that's really her specialty, "Crackle was all but ranting about him until the very end  do you guys know anything about him?"

Swoozie finishes her drink, then lies back on the bed beside you, staring up at the concrete ceiling, "Sounds like excitin work, Winner. I don know bout fucken guys scared o me, they're usually all bout gettin themselves in me and goin to town an all that jazz." she says this with big gestures and dramatic sweeps of tone, making fun of the to-do.

Then she becomes a little reflective, "Vulture's zokay, gotta big one, but he's pretty shelfish. They all are, I guess. ME TOO, course. All shelfish... wait, you said Harridun? I hearda him, I think. Some psycho inna caravan, travellin around drippin jingle, like a fucken genie. heh heh, you got any wishes, Winner?"</font?

When Swoozie dismisses people being scared of her, Winter rolls over and grabs her forearm  again, in a sisterly manner  and says, "You gotta let them know who's boss! Men want a woman that knows what she wants! Take charge of 'em, and show them the time of their lives. They don't have to be scared  but they sure as hell have to respect you!"

With that little tidbit of wisdom out there, she brushes her finger through Swoozie's hair affectionately  combing the tangle with her fingers. She listens to Swoozie talk about Vulture's dick, and interrupts her briefly to add, "Biggest one I ever saw was this big!" She gestures something roughly the size of a large cucumber  she may be too drunk to realize it's a bit exaggerated, "I couldn't walk straight for a week after that guy..." She goes back to combing Swoozie's hair, idly braiding a lock or two as she listens to her. She's listening somewhat intently when Swoozie moves on to Harridan, laughing drunkenly when she calls him a genie and asking Winter about wishes, "Oh that's easy  more women clients!" She jokes, "at least they know what a clit is." She laughs for a second, then stops to consider the request more seriously. Nobody'd ever really asked her what she wanted in life before  but a place of her own was starting to sound really good.

"You know  some nice, pre-fall building to start something up new would be awesome... This business is good and all, but I can't keep traveling forever. The snow takes its toll on you after a while, you know?" She brushes Swoozie's cheek with the back of her hand, "What about you?"

Swoozie starts relaxing with the sisterly affection. It seems familiar to her, you know it. She even looks you in the eye, something you realize she hadn't been doing at all until now, except for the occasional glare. But the edge is off, way off. She's maybe been carrying this around for a while. This feels like the first time she's relaxed since Domino was murdered, but she isn't saying.

When you talk about starting something new, she gives you a lopsided smile. Sober, it would be a warm one, but right now, it slides a bit. When you ask about her wish, Swoozie droops her eyelids closed and says, "A house overlookin tha sea. I wuz born onna boat, Winner. Daddy said I got seawater in mah veins. Whenna pirates came'n killed im, took me an my brothers an sister with im, I swore I'd never lookit the sea again. But now... I miss it."

She shakes her head slowly, trying to clear it, then looks at you, "Gimmie that dope, less get effed up."

Winter smiles when Swoozie mentions a place by the sea  she'd been near the coast once in her life, at the request of a johnny and she'd always wanted to go back. "I could see myself starting a business near the sea one day  it's nice!" Then Swoozie comes around to the dope, and Winter gets excited. Thatch had been really weird when she gets high lately, and Winter was enjoying Swoozie's company  It was nice. "Yeah! Now you're talkin'!" She says as she digs into her coat pocket, producing the dope, and distributing generous shares  nothing dangerous, just enough to make them both feel really good. Before she gives it to Swoozie, she holds the sample closed in one hand  like a mother offering candy to her child conditionally  "Now before you take this, it's very important you have something you want. You've gotta want it bad, and let your mind wander to it. It's the best way to do this stuff."

She hands Swoozie the drugs, "Got it?" She then puts the dope on her finger and snorts it, quivering as it sends a shiver throughout her body, then relaxing as the overwhelming warmth engulfs her for the second time today... As she collapses back down onto the bed, she can't help but wonder  where's she going to find Wolf?